Enviro-News May 2019 Sponsored by Daemen College’s Global & Local Sustainability Program Newsletter Contents: • Articles- including events, courses, local news, grants, jobs • Upcoming Activities • Tips for the Environment • Volunteer Opportunities, Recycling, CSAs and Farms, Organization links Articles: Composter and Rain Barrel Sales: Last Call Erie County, in partnership with the Western NY Storm water Coalition, the City of Buffalo, and the Town of Wheatfield, is once again offering rain barrels and compost bins at wholesale prices. Order yours today. This offer ends May 3rd, 2019. There are 2 locations to pick up orders: City of Buffalo Engineering Garage (1120 Seneca St.) and Town of Wheatfield Town Hall (2800 Church Rd., North Tonawanda). The specific date/time and location for pick up must be selected when you check out. You must pick up your order at the location, date and time that you select at checkout or have someone pick it up for you. Orders are not available for pick up at these locations outside of the dates/times listed at check out. Pick up dates are May 15, 16 from 4:30 to 7:30pm or May 18 from 9am to 12pm. For costs and descriptions of items, visit https://eriecompostersale.ecwid.com Imagining a More Livable Niagara Falls Sponsored by Partners for a Livable Western New York, City of Niagara Falls and the New York Chapter of Congress for the New Urbanism, a six-week series of talks will present ideas and encourage discussion on how to help Niagara Falls move forward. The talks will be held on successive Thursdays beginning on May 2 at 6pm at the Niagara Falls Train Station. Topics include: Setting the Goals, Better Mobility for Everyone, Housing for Everyone, Making Better Places, Government and Developers Working Together and a Community Conversation about the Future. For a list of contributors, visit here. 2019 Sustainable Business Summit We’re excited to announce the 2019 Annual Sustainable Business Summit “Building Your Business – Reducing Your Footprint”, will be at the Hotel Henry on May 8, 2019 from 11am to 5pm. For more details: visit info. Philip Ivey will be the keynote speaker and share his insight and counsel of his sustainability journey over the past 30 years at Milliken, a global corporation that combines science, design and insight to tackle the issues and concerns of today with over 35 manufacturing facilities and 7,000 employees. Speakers and networking are part of the event. Register by May 6. Show your love for parks this spring! Spring is here, and online volunteer registration for the eighth annual I Love My Park Day is now open! On Saturday, May 4, join volunteers at state parks, historic sites, and public lands across the state to help celebrate and spruce up park lands and beaches, plant trees and gardens, restore trails and wildlife habitat, and more! At last year’s event, 8,000 volunteers pitched in to give back to parks, completing 250 stewardship projects. This year's event has 135 event locations, from Montauk to Niagara Falls. Visit the I Love My Park Day website to find an event near you and register to be a part of this fun and exciting day! Tortoise & the Hare 5K Race and Family Fun Run Join us on Saturday May 4 from 9 to 11:30am at the MacKinnon Lodge in Chestnut Ridge Park either as a runner on the USATF certified 5K road course, as a walker along the wooded 1-mile walking loop, or as a supporter participating in our nature-themed basket raffle, 50/50 split, or merchandise sales! This year we are excited to welcome our friends from Wild Spirit and their live Birds of Prey! This will be a fun day for the entire family. Be sure to register by April 10th as we will have a very limited supply of t-shirts available this year. Inquire about student group discounts by emailing [email protected]! Register Today! 14th Annual Shoreline Sweep Be part of WNY’s largest single-day shoreline cleanup on Saturday, May 11, 2019 from 10:00 AM -12:00 PM. This is your opportunity to join the effort to protect and revitalize our waterways by cleaning up shoreline trash, including plastics that can harm fish and wildlife. With over 60 sites to choose from, find one close to home or explore somewhere new! Join us afterwards at the volunteer appreciation party. To Register for both a cleanup site and the party, click here. Pollinator House Competition Gardens Buffalo Niagara and the Buffalo Architecture Foundation are holding a design build competition for pollinator houses – for bugs, bees, birds, butterflies, and bats – as a benefit for both organizations. All are welcome to compete! Free entries due by May 15. Learn More Bid to Build Benefit Auction to Support The Foundry The annual Bid to Build fundraiser to support The Foundry will take place on Thursday, May 16th from 6-9pm at 298 Northampton Street, Buffalo. Come celebrate and support The Foundry's past year of growth, reconnect with Foundry friends and/or join us for the first time to learn more about what we do. Watch as The Foundry transforms from our day-to-day operations of a shared makerspace that provides youth and adult classes (in our woodshop, metalshop, tech and textile lab) and business incubator space (currently home of over 20 small businesses) into a fancy event space for you to enjoy. Tickets ($35) available at thefoundrybuffalo.org/bidtobuild2019 or at the door. Dig with the Experts Tickets are on sale for Penn Dixie’s signature event — Dig with the Experts! This is our very popular, once yearly opportunity to unearth the best, most complete, and most unexpected fossils at Penn Dixie. This often sells out. Info Tickets are available for Saturday May 18 and Sunday May 19 with a weekend pass option. SkyRide 2019 Registration is Open For the sixth year, GObike Buffalo will be hosting the SkyRide, our signature bike ride providing riders the opportunity to explore the past, present and future of Buffalo’s roadways through a bike ride highlighting our legacy highways—the Skyway, Scajaquada Expressway, and Kensington Expressway—built atop our Olmsted Parks System, Scajaquada Creek and our waterfront. The event will be held on Sunday, May 19, at 9 am, starting in LaSalle Park. New this year: Kids allowed: We’re excited to allow riders age 10 and up on all routes with an accompanying adult. Kids under 10 will also be allowed if harnessed to an adult via child seat or trailer. There will be three routes (10 mile Skyway-only loop, 11 mile and 18 mile loop) with pop-up art installations along the route. Register Now Allegany Nature Pilgrimage: Save the Date The 2019 Allegany Nature Pilgrimage will be held May 31-June 2. The Allegany Nature Pilgrimage is an annual outdoor learning experience. It combines fun with a variety of nature-oriented activities. This traditional weekend of natural history and outdoor education welcomes both the experience naturalist as well as the inquisitive beginner! The Nature Pilgrimage is held at "Camp Allegany" in the Red House area of beautiful Allegany State Park. First Timer? Generally, you take care of your own lodging and food. To help you out, the Boy Scouts sell hot dogs at noon on Saturday, and there is a chicken or vegetarian meal you can pre-order for Saturday evening. Learn more about the logistics for the weekend on the About page. Erie County Household Hazardous Waste Dropoffs If you have old oil-based paint, fertilizer or pesticides lying around in your basement, garage or shed, 2019 is your lucky year. Erie County Department of Environment and Planning will hold five household hazardous waste collection events throughout the county: May event is filled; June 15 at Erie Community College South Campus in Orchard Park; Aug. 10 at ECC South Campus; Sept. 14 in Concord; and Oct. 5 in Buffalo. Residents will have to preregister online or by phone to participate. Registration opens 30 days before event. Specific locations of the drop-offs will be provided at preregistration. For more info, visit erie.gov/recycling or call 716-858-6800. WNY Climate Action Summit The 3rd annual Western New York Youth Climate Action Summit will be June 1 at the new Science and Math Center at Buffalo State College. We will again bring together students, educators and local leaders to study cutting edge climate science, while offering chance to plan effective change in their communities with guided support. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. Here is our Agenda 2019 for the 8am-9pm event which includes speakers, training and a harbor cruise to finish the event. The opportunities for the youth of WNY to network, learn, and gain the tools needed to affect change are offered in abundance at this summit. Wine and Wags Join the SPCA on Wednesday, June 5th from 5:30pm-8:00pm for an evening of food, wine and fun for you and your dog right on the grounds of the Erie County SPCA located at 300 Harlem Road, West Seneca. Hosted by Kiss 98.5! General Admission is $40 Pre-Sale | $50 At-The-Door. Attendees must be 21 or older. Dogs are not required, but are welcomed and encouraged! CLICK HERE FOR FULL EVENT DETAILS! Hawk Creek Fundraiser Cruise Ever dreamed about relaxing on a cruise ship AND supporting wildlife? Have we got the event for you! Grand Lady Cruises and Hawk Creek Wildlife Center are partnering up for the event of the summer! Tickets are $29.50 per person (ages 13+ only), with a portion of all sales being directly donated to Hawk Creek.